Mandy and Jace

I absolutely love a good hamburger. Hamburger, cheeseburger, sliders they all make me a very happy girl. They are also a summertime staple around here. There is nothing I like more than eating a juicy burger right off the grill. Oops, I just drooled on my keyboard a bit.

I was a little worried when I made these. I had seen some hamburger patties with cheese cubes mixed in the meat. I had initially mistaken them for butter and asked about them and they quickly corrected me. Then I got to thinking, butter makes everything better, why not burgers? So I cut the butter into cubes and mixed them into the meat. People, that was the best thing I ever did. They were delicious! Not healthy by any means, so be smart and eat in moderation.

The juiciest burgers ever
makes 5 large patties
1 lb ground beef
2 tbs butter, cold and cubed
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

Throw all ingredients into a large bowl and mix with your hands or a spoon is you don’t want to get your hands dirty. If you have time, let the mixture sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. In the words of AB “your patience will be rewarded”. Form the patties and grill to your desired doneness.

I know my meal plan said we were having waffles but I was too lazy to get the waffle maker out and clean up after. So, I decided to do pancakes instead. I made these a couple of months ago and swore off boxed pancake mix forever. They are THAT much better and only took me five minutes to mix up.

Melt in your mouth pancakes
adapted from Joy the Baker

1 cup flour (white or wheat)
4 teaspoons baking powder
4 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk add 1 tablespoon white vinegar to regular milk)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cool

In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Set aside

In another bowl stir together the buttermilk, eggs and vegetable oil. After that is mixed together, stir in the melted butter.

Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir until it becomes a batter.

If you have a cast iron skillet get it out. Believe me, it makes them better. If you don’t have one on hand a regular skillet or griddle will do. Add some vegetable oil to the pan and turn the stove to medium-high. When hot, I use a ladle to pour my batter in the pan and cook until brown. Serve immediately.

Tuesday evening we had our first BBQ in our new house. We fired up our never used grill and got to cooking. I was a little nervous becuase I had never had lamb chops. The closest I have had to them was in our meatballs. Turns out they were delicious. I am so excited about the summer season, now. Last summer we wanted to grill all the time and we couldn’t so now we are going to try to get outside more.

Lemon thyme rice
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cups white rice
1 carton chicken broth
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
zest of 1 lemon
salt and pepper

Pour the oil into a pot set on medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the rice and cook for about 2 minutes to toast the rice. Add in half the carton of chicken broth and the thyme and reduce the heat to medium. Cook until the rice absorbs the liquid and is soft. Add more chicken broth during cooking if needed.
Pour the rice into a serving dish and stir in the lemon zest. Salt and pepper to taste.

My wonderful mother-in-law, Linda, gave me this recipe. It is my go to recipe when I need something really fast that I can throw in the crock pot and leave it for the day. It makes enough to last for a couple of days and it also freezes well to save for later.

Cowboy soup
recipe from Linda Gregg
1/2lb to 1lb cooked hamburger meat (depending on how meaty you want it)
1 can creamed corn
1 can whole kernel corn
2 cans ranch style beans
1/2 – 1 can ro-tel tomatoes (depending on how spicy you want it)
1 cup water
salt, pepper and fajita seasoning to taste

Pour all ingredients into the crock pot. Use the salt, pepper and fajita seasoning to make it taste like you want it to. Cook until hot. The longer you let it cook the better the soup tastes! I started my soup at lunch and turned it on low. By dinner time it was done.

I have a confession to make. I pray the cooking gods will forgive us. We cheated when we made this dish…

We started to chop all the veggies and I was exhausted and very lazy. So we threw all the veggies into the food processor and pulverized them.

I know, we’re terrible. However you choose to chop the veggies though, it will be very tasty.

Jambalaya
1 tablespoon oil
1 diced bell pepper
2 stalks diced celery
2 diced shallots
2 chicken breasts, cubed
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cup rice
1 carton chicken broth
Tony Chachere’s, salt and pepper to taste

Season the chicken generously with the salt, pepper and Chachere’s.

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add in the shallots, bell pepper and celery and salt them well. Cook for about 3 minutes or until tender. Add in the rice and cook for about 2 minutes to toast the rice. Add in half the carton of chicken broth. Reduce heat to medium and cook until the rice absorbs the liquid and is soft. Add more chicken broth during cooking if needed.

While the rice is cooking, heat the butter in a saute pan over medium high heat. When butter is brown add the cubed chicken and cook until done.

Pour the cooked chicken into the rice mixture and season to taste with salt, pepper and Chachere’s.